It is indisputable that treaty of Botega on Armistice and pacification was signed between the

Adawa-Zeiounia union and republic of Rasasa on 1st November 1929. What remains to be seen
here is that whether the state of adawa is a party to said treaty or not. The plain reading of article
1(i) of such treaty states as:

”In pursuance of regional peace and stability, a general armistice among and between
the armed forces of the high contracting parties – land,sea and air- is hereby declared and
established”.

State of Adawa is a party to a treaty as per the aforementioned article, in which parties have
used the word “among” in the treaty even when treaty was signed between the two states, then
what was intention of parties by using word “among”? from the text of article 1 , it ccan be
deduced that even parties have shown their intention that this treaty is binding in event of
separation of union. Though the word separation has not been used by parties but they have
divulged their intentions by using word ”among” that this treaty is also binding on adawa as
well. In order to clear the confusion between these words, we need to have a glimpse upon
secondary principle of interpretation known as “Noscitur a Sociis”

The Latin maxim noscitur a sociis states this contextual principle, whereby a word or
phrase is not to be construed as if it stood alone but in the light of its surroundings. A word or
phrase in an enactment must always be construed in the light of the surrounding text. Words, and
particularly general words, cannot be read in isolation; their colour and their content are derived
from their context. The rule of construction noscitur a sociis as explained by Lord Macmillan
means:

‘The meaning of a word is to be judged by the company it keeps.’

According to Stamp J.:

‘English words derive colour from those which surround them, Sentences are not mere
collection of words to be taken out of the sentence, defined separately by reference to the
dictionary or decided cases, and then put back into the sentence with the meaning which you
have assigned to them as separate words…’
 Application of secondary rules in international law:

It is pertinent to impart that to what extent secondary rules of interpretation is

applicable under international law. Though secondary rules of interpretation has not been used
widely but to some extent it has been used.

2. ICTY applied noscitur a sociis rule in tadic case.1

Furthermore, noscitur a sociis rule was applied in following cases:

a. In Pengelly v. Bell Punch Co. Ltd..2

b. In Inland Revenue v Freret.3
c. In Commrs v. Savoy Hotel.4
d. In Baghesshwari Charan Singh v. Jagannath.5
e. In Muir v. Keay6.

1
Delalic (n.6) para 166
2
[1964] 1 WLR 1055
3
[1964] 3 All ER 796
4
1966 2 All ER 299
5
AIR 1932 PC 55
6
(1875) LR 10 QB 294